By Jeff Foust
In today's edition: SDA seeks proposals for ground stations, HEO raises $25 million to expand satellite imaging to GEO, the latest country to sign the Artemis Accords and more.
If someone forwarded you this edition, sign up to receive it in your inbox every weekday. Have thoughts or feedback? You can hit reply to let me know.
|
|
|
|
|
|
SPONSORED |
 |
Resilience in a congested and complex space environment requires more than additional launches. Operators need to know what is happening around their assets, recognize when action is needed, and have the ability to respond. Astroscale U.S. combines proven rendezvous and proximity operations with inspection and characterization capabilities to enhance Space Domain Awareness (SDA) across orbital regimes. Paired with our servicing capabilities such as maneuver, refueling, and deorbit, SDA connects awareness with action. Visit astroscale-us.com to learn how Astroscale U.S.’s advanced SDA can strengthen orbital resilience.
|
|
|
|
|
Top Stories
The Space Development Agency is seeking industry proposals for a contract worth up to $369 million for ground stations. SDA issued a request for proposals last week for what it calls Resilient Missile Warning and Tracking LEO Ground Entry Points, or GEPs. The contractor would develop, install, integrate, test and maintain ground sites at multiple locations around the world, according to the solicitation. SDA envisions five to eight new GEP locations and upgrades to one to four existing sites to support its missile-warning and tracking satellite constellation. SDA already has a sizable ground systems contract with General Dynamics Mission Systems, which has served as the primary integrator of the ground architecture serving the constellation. [SpaceNews]
HEO, an Australian company that uses satellites to take images of other space objects, has raised $25 million. The company announced the Series B round Monday led by Beaten Zone Venture Partners, an Australian venture fund that supports defense and space companies. HEO leases capacity on Earth imaging satellites operated by other companies, using them for observing spacecraft and debris. HEO plans to use the funding to expand its system, currently focused on low Earth orbit, to geostationary orbit. HEO said it had booked its first two GEO launches, beginning later this year, that would provide "reliable, repeatable GEO imaging coverage" starting in 2027. [SpaceNews]
The Space Force is studying satellites that could be launched on short notice to inspect other spacecraft. Space Systems Command's Space Safari office issued a request for information Friday seeking spacecraft that could be stored and called up for missions beginning in fiscal year 2029. The vehicles would need to maneuver extensively after launch and conduct rendezvous and proximity operations, including potentially docking with other objects in orbit. The market research follows Victus Haze, the Space Force's most ambitious test to date of what it calls tactically responsive space, with a spacecraft launched on less than 24 hours' notice to rendezvous with another spacecraft. The new request suggests the Space Force is looking beyond individual Victus demonstrations toward having maneuverable spacecraft available when an unexpected military need arises. [SpaceNews]
Two teams of European companies have received study contracts for a dual-use Earth observation satellite system. Iceye and Leonardo each signed contracts valued at 5 million euros ($5.7 million) last week for studies of the proposed Earth Observation Governmental Service, or EOGS, system. The companies are leading separate consortia of firms that will study the architecture of the proposed system. EOGS would include optical and radar imaging satellites designed for civil and security applications. The studies will be part of ESA's European Resilience from Space–Earth Observation, or ERS-EO, initiative approved by ESA member states at the agency's ministerial conference in November 2025. ERS-EO is intended to help prepare for EOGS, which will be led by the European Union. [SpaceNews]
Albania is the latest country to sign the Artemis Accords. The country's minister for European and foreign affairs signed the accords Monday at NASA Headquarters. Albania is the 73rd country to sign the Artemis Accords and the 14th so far this year. Artemis Accords signatories will meet next month at the International Astronautical Congress to discuss implementing aspects of the accords as well as NASA's interest in using the accords to coordinate international cooperation in its lunar exploration plans. [SpaceNews]
|
|
|
|
|
Other News
A federal judge has declined to block a land swap between SpaceX and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service involving the company's Starbase, Texas, site. A district court judge ruled Monday that the swap can proceed, rejecting a request for a preliminary injunction filed by environmental groups. The transfer would give SpaceX 715 acres of land in the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge adjacent to Starbase, while SpaceX would hand over 683 acres of land elsewhere in south Texas, some of which would be added to a separate wildlife refuge. The judge concluded that the environmental groups would not suffer irreparable harm if the exchange goes forward. Those groups said they may appeal the ruling. [New York Times]
The head of Roscosmos says the agency has seen record interest in its latest cosmonaut class. Dmitry Bakanov, CEO of Roscosmos, said Monday that the agency received 12,000 applications in its latest call for candidates to join the Roscosmos cosmonaut corps, of which 350 have passed through an initial screening. He did not disclose how many cosmonauts Roscosmos plans to eventually select but said the new cosmonauts would be announced later this year. [TASS]
ESA is expanding its cooperation with the Indian space agency ISRO. ESA announced Monday it signed a new cooperative agreement with ISRO earlier this month during the International Space Summit. The latest agreement, which runs to the beginning of 2032, adds human space exploration and space weather studies as topics of collaboration, in addition to existing cooperation in Earth and space science, navigation and mission support. [ESA]
ESA is also collaborating with a very different entity: Pokémon. A plush toy Pikachu spent more than two months on the International Space Station earlier this year as part of an ESA outreach effort unveiled over the weekend. Now back on Earth, the space-flown Pikachu will go on a tour of ESA centers and science museums in Europe, while there will be space-themed gameplay in the Pokémon GO app starting during World Space Week next month. [collectSPACE]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Classics
|
"As a child, I remember, like most Albanians, I was part of the American dream through Walt Disney, Star Trek, Stargate, Star Wars."
|
– Ervin Bushati, Albania's ambassador to the United States, in remarks Monday at a ceremony at NASA Headquarters where Albania signed the Artemis Accords.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FROM SPACENEWS |
 |
What Comes Next for On-Orbit Servicing? Join us on Wednesday, Sept. 23 for conversations about the tech, policies and business models required to build a functioning in-orbit logistics ecosystem. Col. Scott Carstetter, director of servicing, mobility, and logistics at Space Systems Command, and other experts will explore what comes next for the technologies, policies and business models required to build a functioning in-orbit logistics ecosystem. Register now. |
|
|
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment